Employee Leaks One of Top Executive Fears

'Undercover Boss' should be investigating why employees leak information. Marketing Charts reports that those leaks are among the top fears for 67 percent of executives. A survey by Weber Shandwick and the Economist Intelligence Unit found that such leaks, especially online, can deliver a bad hit to the company's brand name.

Big Foots ranging from Apple to Google have been victims of leaks. And media outlets such as Abovethelaw.com make it convenient and confidential for employees to send in tips via text messages and the like. Or, workers can do the leaking the old-fashioned way by using a pay phone or throwaway cell on their lunch hour to leave a message for a reporter.

Leaking won't end until employers figure out why their particular work force at their particular sites is turning on them in this devastating as well as embarrassing way. Face it, leaks can make the employer look foolish. After they ferret out the cause or causes, then they can put together solutions.

What is already known is that some leaks result from a whistleblower impulse. Employees judge that wrongdoing is taking place and provide government, lawyers, and victims with the documents to prove that. Then there is the technical smarty pants who is aware of weaknesses in the company's security system and informs others how to hack in for information. Or political motivations, such as being left over from a previous administration and having the access to make trouble. There are also the private motivation ones such as being passed over for a promotion or the primitive need for excitement. And, of course, there is the temptation of making money.